Multiple-needle sewing-machine



J; C. HINGE. MULTIPLE NEEDLEQSEWING MACHINE.

APPucmoN FILED net. 8. 1918.

1,394,118. Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

W-lEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR John URz'zye, BY-

A TTQRNEY J. C. RINGE. MULTIPLE NE EDLE SEWING MAQHINB- AFPllCATlON FILED on. 8. 1918.

1,394,118. Patented Oct 18,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR I ohnURvycz. W W

A'I'TORNE.

J c. RINGE.

MULTIPLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE.

APPHCATION FILED OCT. 8, 1918.

1,394,118, Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3 INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY UNITED STATES (PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. RING-E, OF STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGN OR TO THE SINGER MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MULTIPLE-NEEDLE SEWING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN C. HINGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stratford, in the county of F airfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Multiple- Needle Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to multipleneedle sewing machines and more particularly to four-needle lock-stitch sewing machines em ploying rotary loop-takers to cooperate with each needle to pass a loop of needle-thread around a mass of under thread in the formation of stitches.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a four-needle machine in which the four rotary loop-takers cooperating with the needles are arranged in pairs and are adapted to be rotated without lnterfering with the operation of an effective fabric feeding mechanism positioned intermediate the pairs of loop-takers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a four-needle lock-stitch machine employing four rotaryloop-takers adjustable each with respect to the other on llnes substantially at right angles to the direction of feed.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved throat-plate for this class of machines permitting ready access to the bobbins carried by the thread-cases of the rotary loop-takers. I

The invention has for a still further object to provide a four-needle lock-stitch ma chine of this type with a lubricant receptacle,'incasing the loop-taker shafts and of such a form as to obviate soiling of the threads during the sewing operation and at the same time prevent leakage of the lubricant when themachine is tilted back for inspection of the operating mechanism beneath the cloth-plate.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.

In the presentimproved machine a verticall reciprocating needle-barcarries four nee les preferably arranged so that connecting lines form a trapezoid of which the parallel sides lie inplanes intersecting the line of fe 'fd substantiallyat right angles.

The rotating loop t akers cooperating with the needles are arranged similarly thereto and in the present instance rotate in a horizontal plane a plurality of times to each reciprocation of the needle-bar. The looptakers are carried by vertical shafts journaled in adjustable bearings and projecting below the bed-plate of the machine and are driven by means of spiral gears from a shaft geared to the mainshaft of the machine. The spiral gears are inclosed by a lubricant receptacle secured to the bed-plate and formed with an overhanging flange or rib along its rear edge to prevent leakage of the lubricant when the machine is tilted back.

The feeding mechanism is of the lower four-motion variety and includes a feed-dog having an effective fabric feeding surface adapted to have a feeding action upon the work beyond the rearward pair of needles which may be positioned closely adjacent each other without interference from the feed-dog.

The throat-plate is so formed as to provide recesses closed by correspondingly shaped projections on slide-plates which permit, ready access to the bobbin-cases of the rotating loop-takers for removal or insertion of bobbins of thread.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a top-plan view of a portion of a sewing machine bed-plate with the throat-plate shown in dotted lines and the slide plates withdrawn to better illustrate the relative arrangement of the rotary loop-takers and the feed-dog. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the bed-plate substantially on the line of feed and showing the needles and the presser-foot. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lubricant receptacle for inclosing the driving gears for the loop-taker shafts. Fig. 4: comprises detached views in perspective of a rotary loop-taker and the mounting devices therefor as employed in the present machine. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the under side of the throat-plate.

The invention as herein shown and described is an improvement on the sewing machine disclosed in the United States patent to T. R. Rossiter, No. 566,538, dated August 25, 1896, the reconstruction as herein shown and described effecting a commercially practical machine.

eferring to the drawings, the sewing machine comprises a bed-plate 1, the upper necting the needles form a trapezoid of which the parallel sides areosubstantially at right angles to the direction of feed.

Cooperating with the needles .1, 5, 6 and 7 respectively are rotary loop-takers 8, 9 10 and 1.1 arranged in the same relative positions as the needles. Journaled in a well known manner in each of the loop-takers is a thread-case 12 carrying a lower thread.

bobbin 13. The loop-takers are adapted to rotate in substantially a horizontal plane, that is in a plane transverse to the path of reciprocation of the needle-bar, and areeach carried by loop-taker shafts as 14 journaled in adjustable bearings, as 15. To the reduced lower ends of the loop-taker shafts 14 are suitably secured spiral gears, as 16, meshingwith similar gears, as 17, carried by the loop-taker actuating shaft 18 journaled in suitable bearings provided on the bed-plate 1. The shaft 18 may be rotated in the usual manner from the commonly employed needle-bar actuating shaft (not shown), the driving connections in the present instance being such as to impart two rotations to each of the loop-takers for each reciprocation of the needle-bar. The front and rear pairs of loop-takers are arranged upon opposite sides of the shaft 18.

Each of the thread-cases is provided with a stop-lug 19 entering one of four notches 20 formed by lugs projecting from the under side of the throat-plate 21. To obviate at certain intervas the normal tendency of thefstop-lugs 19 to contact with one of the walls of their detaining notches and to pr'o- V vide a free passage for each of the needlethread loops, the thread-(arses vare each formed with a web 22 having an inclined cam-surface 23 adapted to be engaged by a finger 2 1 projecting from a bobbin-case oscillating lever 25 journaled on an eccentric 26 provlded on the shaft 14:. "The levers 25 are each provided with a forked opening 27 tracked by a follower 28 loosely'seate'd in an aperture 29 formed in the bobbin-case lever adjusting plate 30embracing a hub 31 upon theloop-taker supporting frame 32. 7 s05 mental slot 33 by means of which and se- The plates 30 are each provided with a segcuring screws, as 34, the positions of said plates may be variedto adjust the actionof the fingers 24. The loop-taker frames'32 are ad ustably securedby means of screws,

as 35, upon the upper side of an oil-guarding web 36 provided on the bed-plate of the machine, said web 36 being formed with elongated slots, as 36, through which project the loop-taker shaft bearings 15 provided on the loop-taker frames 32. The loop-takers may accordingly be readily adjusted' along the actuating shaft 18 for different gages of needles and each with respect to the other on'fa line substantially at right angles to the direction of feed. Suitably cured upon each of the front loop-taker frames 32 so as to be adjustable therewith are upwardly projecting arms, as 87. serving as guides for the front pair of needles to obviate damage to the'pa-rts by accidental deflection of the needles from their proper path of movement 7 The present improved arrangement of loop -takers permits the employment of an effective fabric feeding mechanism comprising a feed-dog 38 having a relatively narrow extension 39 adapted to act upon the fabric at a point rearward of the rear pair of needles even when the latter are adjusted to a very narrow gage." The feed-dog operates through slots. as 410, formed in the throat-plate and is suitably secured upon the feed-bar 41 which may be actuated in any well known manner. V

As shown in Figs. 1 and 5 the throat-plate 21 is formed with recesses. as 42, upon opposite sides of its longitudinal center line to permit ready access to each ofthe lower thread bobbins when the slide-plates 43 which are correspondingly formed with proj ections to close said recesses, arewithdrawn. The throat-plate is also formed with a bev eled portion 44 on its under side to provide clearance for the needle-thread loop as it is whipped around the thread-case by the loop-taker. I

Suitably secured to the bed-plate of the machine is anoil-re'cepta'c'le afi inclosing the .ldriving gears for the hook-shafts. The oilguarding web 86 prevents the oil carried by said receptacle from coiningfintocontactwith the sewing threads. but in machines of prior construction the oil leaked through the joint between thebed-plate and ,the receptacle when the machine was tipped back for any reason. To obviate this defect, the present, oil receptacle is fO-rmedwith a flange 16 forming a pocket for the oil'when thefmachine is tipped back and preventingleakage of the oil. 7

" While:cert ain features .of the foregoing description include mechanisms individually similar to those of. sewing. machines having 7 stitch-forming v mechanisms for -simultane busly effecting a relativelyxsm'all number of seams,lit is to be understoodthat-in lockstitch sewing machines the problem of com- }bining the several necessary elements in an effective manner to obviate interference of the parts, obtain an effective feed of the fabric being operated upon and provide the adjustments necessary in a commercially practical machine becomes increasingly difficult with the number of seams simultaneously formed and this is particularly true in the construction of a four-needle lock-stitch machine that is as commercially practical in every way as is the present machine.

Iaving thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is 1. In a lock-stitch sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism comprising four reciprocating needles, a rotary loop-taker cooperating with each of said needles, and means permitting adjustment of each of said loop-takers independently of the others.

2. In a lock-stitch sewing machine, in combination, stitchforming mechanism comprising four reciprocating thread-carrying needles arranged in pairs of which one pair is positioned in the rear of the other pair, a loop-taker cooperating with each of said needles, a thread-case journaled in each of said loop-takers and around which said loop-takers are adapted to cast the needlethread loops, and a feeding mechanism including a feed-dog having an operative feeding movement rearward of the rear pair of needles.

3. In a lock-stitch sewing machine, in combination, stitchforming mechanism comprising four reciprocating thread-carrying needles arranged in pairs of which one pair is positioned in the rear of the other pair and of which the needles of one pair are spaced a greater distance from each other than those of the other pair, a looptaker cooperating with each of said needles and corresponding in arrangement to that of the needles, a thread-case journaled in each of said loop-takers around which said loop-takers are adapted to cast the needlethread loops, and means permitting adjustment of one of the loop-takers with respect to the other of the same pair.

4. In a lock-stitch sewing machine, in combination, a feeding mechanism, stitchforming mechanism comprising four reciprocating thread-carrying needles arranged in the form of a trapezoid of which the parallel sides are substantially at right angles to the direction of feed, a loop-taker actuating shaft, four loop-takers carried in pairs on opposite sides of and rotated by said actuating shaft for cooperation with said needles in the formation of lock stitches, and means permitting adjustment of said looptakers in directions substantially parallel to the axis of said shaft.

5. In a lock-stitch sewing machine, in combination, fabric feeding mechanism, stitch-forming mechanism comprising four reciprocating thread-carrying needles arranged in the form of a trapezoid of which the parallel sides are substantially at right angles to the direction of feed, a rotary loop-taker cooperating with each of said needles, and means permitting adjustment of said loop-takers each independently of the others for different gages of needles in the direction of said parallel sides.

6. In a sewing machine for sewing four rows of stitching, in combination, stitch forming mechanism comprising four reciprocating needles arranged in a trapezoidal formation, a loop-taker cooperating with each of said needles and adapted to rotate in a substantially horizontal plane, a threadcase journaled in each of said loop-takers, a lower thread bobbin carried by each of said thread-cases, feeding mechanism including a feed-clog having an effective feeding move ment rearward of the point of seam-formation, a throat-plate formed with a plurality of recesses overlying said bobbins, and slideplates formed with projections fitting into said recesses.

7. In a sewing machine for sewing four rows of stitching, in combination, a bedplate, stitch-forming mechanism including an actuating shaf four loop-takers arranged in pairs upon opposite sides of said shaft, driving connections between said shaft and said loop-takers, a lubricant receptacle incasing said driving connections and secured to said bed-plate, and a flange upon said receptacle forming a pocket for the lubricant to prevent leakage when the machine is tilted back.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN C. RIN GE. 

